31 posts from June 2013

Following tonight's game, the Phillies optioned backup infielder Freddy Galvis to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Taking his place on the 25-man roster will be John McDonald, who the Phillies acquired in a trade with Cleveland earlier in the day on Thursday.

I'm assuming this move was made in order to get Galvis more playing time. From June 19-28, he had just three at-bats.

Darren Daulton overcame countless knee surgeries during his career, so maybe he can use those challenging times to help him pull through this.

According to 97.5 The Fanatic, the former Phillies catcher has been diagnosed with two brain tumors and is scheduled for surgery early next week.

Daulton, a three-time All-Star, was a fan-favorite during his time in Philly, where he spent all but one of his 13 years in the big leagues. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1992, hit 137 career home runs and won a World Series ring in 1997 when he played for the Florida Marlins.

"We’re saddened by the news about Darren," Phillies president David Montgomery said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this time. We, along with our fans, are praying for a full recovery."

Daulton is the third former Phillies in the last decade to have a brain tumor. Tug McGraw had a brain tumor and died in 2004. John Vukovich lost his battle in 2007.

Daulton, affectionately known as "Dutch," hosts an evening radio show, "Talking Baseball" on 97.5 during baseball season.

The Phillies have acquired infielder John McDonald from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

McDonald, 38, is 2-for-38 (.053) this year. This will be his third team
since the start of the regular season (Pirates, Indians as well).

To make room for McDonald on the 40-man roster, catcher Steve Lerud was outrighted off the 40-man roster to Lehigh Valley to make room for McDonald on the 40-man. McDonald is expected to join the team tomorrow in Los Angeles, at which time a move will be made to accommodate him on the 25-man roster.

Could the Phillies be thinking about sending Freddy Galvis to Triple-A so he can play more at-bats? Or maybe a bigger move is in the works?

The season finale of The Great Sports Debate airs this week, and I was a guest along with host John Clark and panelists Tony Bruno and Harry Mayes.

We talk lots of Phillies in my two segments. Does the bullpen need help? Who is the most likely to get traded if the Phillies go in that direction? Did Ruben Amaro Jr. did a worse job constructing the bullpen or the outfield? Who will have a bigger second half: Ryan Howard or Dom Brown?

You can hear us talk about all that and more when it airs tonight at 7 p.m. on The Comcast Network (TCN). It also will be on Friday at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. on CSN.

It seems like a never-ending quest for the Phillies in the last two years.

A season after their eighth-inning debacles were all the talk, Ruben Amaro Jr. thought he had solidified how the set-up role would go.

It hasn't worked out.

With news emerging Tuesday night that Mike Adams has three tears in his shoulder (both labrum and rotator cuff), he admitted to reporters in San Diego that it is unlikely he pitches again this year. He told traveling writers he's still deciding between doing rehab to strengthen the muscles around the damaged areas or surgery.

The problem is that he could spend all that time doing rehab and might still need surgery. And having surgery very soon doesn't guarantee he'll be ready for the start of the 2014 season.

"Not good," Adams told writers in San Diego on Tuesday.

Neither is what's transpired with the Phillies' bullpen --- again.Their team bullpen ERA sits at 4.67, second worst in Major League Baseball (only Houston's is higher at 4.76; the ML average is 3.65).

Their eighth-inning ERA is a whopping 5.38. And some of the options they have to turn to haven't fared well so far.

Antonio Bastardo, the guy most likely to take over that role, has a .357 BAA (10-for-28). And earlier in the season when Phillippe Aumont had chances while Adams was on the DL, opponents were hitting .478 (11-for-23) off him in the eighth inning.

Things might get worse before they better. But that's really nothing new when it comes to the bullpen recently, especially when it comes to the eighth inning.

The club's eighth-inning ERA (4.67) in 2012 was the third worst
in the National League. Only Houston (5.00) and Milwaukee (4.78) had higher
ERAs in the eighth innings of games.

In the last four years, it wasn't something the Phillies had to worry about. From 2008-11, Phillies pitchers posted an ERA of 3.94 or lower in
the eighth inning of games. You have to go back to 2007 to find an
eighth-inning ERA higher than what they put up last season or this season (4.86).

Take this into consideration: the Phillies have allowed at least one run in the final three innings in 15 of their last 20 games. And in one of the games they didn't, pitchers had already allowed 10 runs before that point.

In addition, it's being reported that Mike Stutes (biceps tendinitis) will not throw anytime before July 5. Jeremy Horst (elbow inflammation) will begin a throwing program today and could be activated in about two weeks.

It certainly doesn't sound like you should be expecting help in the near futures.

"Right now we don't have any solutions," Amaro told writers in San Diego. "If we could find a
solution to fill the hole or fill a need we'll try. It doesn't mean we're not
going to try. I'll be on the lookout for it. But based on the conversations I've
had with teams already about these particular players who might be in play, I'm
not optimistic about that. A lot of people are looking for bullpen help and,
naturally, demand is very high."

It may be hard to believe, but another Phillies reliever is going on the disabled list.

And the news about Mike Adams, who landed on the DL on Saturday (backdated to Friday), got worse.

A day after pitching in relief of Jonathan Pettibone, who left with back tightness, Stutes admitted he rushed his warmup (he didn't get to stretch) and now he's headed to the DL with biceps tendonitis. He said it's been bothering him off and on.

"It’s been sore for a few days, but just something I’ve tried to pitch from through," Stutes said. "We decided it’s better to not let it become something more major."

To take Stutes' spot on the 25-man roster, Phillippe Aumont was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Adams is getting a second opinion for his biceps tendonitis from Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who did Roy Halladay's shoulder surgery last month. When the team heads to San Diego, Adams will see ElAttrache in L.A.

The Phillies' setup man admitted he's scared.

"We did an MRI and there’s some concern," he said. "After the game Wednesday night , I felt fine. I felt fine in the game. I felt fine afterward. I did my workouts. Iced. Then I went home and that’s when it really set it. I tried to lift my little boy up and I wasn’t able to do that. Just lifting my arm up was pretty uncomfortable."

Fellow reliever Jeremy Horst is also on the DL with a left elbow sprain.

Mike Adams was placed on the 15-day DL this afternoon with what the team says is biceps tendonitis. The Phillies set-up man already spent 15 days on the DL with a right back strain.

It's clear Adams hasn't been himself much of the year. His velocity has been down, he's had control issues and he's allowed five home runs in 28 appearances (25 IP), his most since giving up five home runs in 2011.

To take Adams' spot on the 25-man roster, the Phillies promoted right-handed reliever J.C. Ramirez from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He needed to be added to the 40-man roster, so in turn, the club designated Michael Martinez for assignment.

For the record, unlike Jonathan Papelbon, who called Ryan Howard out, Charlie Manuel defended his first baseman’s positioning when Denard Span was up in the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game.

In the same breath, the Phillies manager also took no issue with Papelbon speaking out about the team’s lack of fundamentals.

“I’ve been talking about fundamentals for two years,” Manuel said. “Span, although the count is 3-1, is a bunter and he likes to bunt and bunt against us. Howard was up in the right spot. But it’s just like everything, everyone wants to voice their opinion. Howard was in the right place. But I don’t know if you guys have a memory, but I’ve been talking about fundamentals for two years very strongly.”

But is talking about it publicly really what Manuel wanted?

“If he wants to and feels like it,” Manuel said. “To me, it’s not that big a deal. He can make a statement on it.”

LINEUP ADJUSTMENTS WITH UTLEY BACK

With the return of Chase Utley, Manuel opted to hit him second, bat Michael Young third and have Ben Revere slide into the seven-hole.

Although Manuel likes having Young hit higher on the order right now, it wasn’t easy writing Revere’s name in the seven-spot.

“It was hard because Revere has been really doing a good job for us,” Manuel said. “At the same time too, when I think about, Michael Young, in the last few games, he’s hit some doubles and things like that. He’s got a quicker bat. We definitely couldn’t line up those left-handed hitters in a row. So I was looking for the best balance I could possibly have. Ben being in the seven-hole keeps him free to run. We’ve got Chooch hitting behind him. Chooch is very capable of knocking him in if they pitch to him. If they don’t pitch to him, it depends on how many outs there are and we can bunt the pitcher.”